A chemical or biological attack on a civilian population is a dreadful event. The best response requires the earliest possible detection of the attack so that individuals can flee and civil defense authorities can contain its effects. To this end, chemical and biological attack-detection systems are being deployed in many urban centers.
Once a system has been deployed, routine testing of the system's sensors are required to confirm operational readiness. One way to test such systems is with a broad-area release of chemicals or biological simulants. The simulants are non-pathogenic, non-virulent, or non-toxic stand-ins for the real thing. While far less onerous to the population than the actual chemical or biological agents, the simulants can, nevertheless, adversely affect a small percentage of the population.
As a consequence, there is a need for a system and method that is capable of confirming sensor operation of the attack-detection system without requiring a broad-area release of chemical or biological simulants.